Grandest garden tour of them all

Steve Whysall, Vancouver Sun05.14.2012

The gardens at Hampton Court Palace include a 17th-century Privy Garden, with raised paths and yew pyramids that stretch from the palace walls to the shores of the River Thames.Handout image
/ Vancouver Sun

The Floriade is a once-a-decade horticultural exposition that showcases the work of the Dutch floral trade, and where fanciful displays are artfully arranged so that the land itself becomes an artistic medium.Handout image
/ Vancouver Sun

Related

Today I will be flying to Amsterdam to lead two of the longest and most ambitious European garden tours I have yet designed, with visits to more than 20 world-class gardens across four countries, starting in Holland, moving into Belgium, across to England and then up to Scotland.

This month-long adventure will also include visits to two of the most famous international gardening events - the once-every-decade Floriade in the Netherlands and the Chelsea Flower Show in England, rated the best garden show in the world, plus time at Europe's Mecca of floriculture, Aalsmeer, where 20 million flowers are sold every day.

You can follow along with me each day on this grand tour by visiting my In the Garden blog, where I'll be posting stories and pictures. I will also be filing specialty stories for this section on the highlights of the Floriade and Chelsea show and a lot more.

Seventy people will be coming on this adventure. One group will journey with me from Holland to England, where we will visit Kew Gardens, Hampton Court, as well as the iconic English gardens of Great Dixter and Sissinghurst and concluding with Chelsea.

A second group will kick off a four-star tour with a day at Chelsea and then visit Sissinghurst and Great Dixter, before launching into a journey through the heart of England, visiting beautiful and historic gardens all the way up through Oxfordshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Northumberland and into Scotland, where we will drop into renowned gar-dens during our stay in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Beautiful gardens are the main linking theme. We will start each day in some fabulous garden. I have found that walking in these pictures of beauty is not only an education, but amazingly relaxing and inspiring.

But the adventure is designed to provide plenty of opportunity to visit art galleries, museums and places of historical interest, as well as time to check out restaurant and theatre culture. We will, for instance, be spending a non-garden day just exploring Bruges, one of the most picturesque cities in Europe.

In the Netherlands, I am particularly excited about revisiting two wonderful garden complexes that are unique to Europe - Appeltern and Nunspeet.

In Appeltern, we will see more than 200 model gardens in one brilliantly compact 15-hectare complex with an amazing diversity and styles of gardens, small and large, traditional and contemporary, artistically linked.

At Nunspeet, we will see cutting-edge designs by one of Holland's top landscape architects, L. J. Goedegebuure, ranging from a shade garden, shrub garden, moor garden, grasses garden, herb garden, rock garden, rose courtyard and Alhambra-style garden, all within a stylish 4.5-hectare complex.

We will, of course, visit Holland's most famous "kitchen" garden, the Keukenhof and stand on top of the windmill to survey the glorious fields of tulip colour.

Jacqueline van der Kloet, the Keuken-hof's leading designer, has also agreed to show us her private garden, the Tea Garden in Weesp. I am told the village of Weesp is a stunning work of beauty in its own right.

Jacqueline is heavily involved with the Floriade, a gigantic world horticultural expo held only once every 10 years. This time, it is in Venlo with "theatre of nature" as its central theme. Jacqueline will meet us there to pass on tips and point out the must-see parts of the immense 66-hectare site, which has been broken up into five distinct garden zones.

For a complete change of pace, after the razzle dazzle of the Floriade, I will take my group as we travel to Bruges into two of the prettiest private gardens in Belgium, in Assenede, west of Antwerp.

When I was putting this tour together, I realized we needed something more for the second half to make it equally exciting and stimulating ... and I hit on the idea of jumping quickly across the North Sea to my homeland for a glorious finale with London at the centre of the crown and Chelsea, Sissinghurst, Great Dixter, Kew and Hampton Court as the jewels.

Both groups will meet for the first time in London; one will have just returned from Chelsea, the new arrivals will be getting ready for it.

From London, we will head into Oxford-shire, Herefordshire and Warwickshire to visit three all-time classic manor house gardens - Rousham, Hatfield House and Upton - while staying in Oxford, the city of spires, there will be time to visit the superb botanical garden there.

Next, we travel very close to Notting-ham, my hometown. In fact, I believe we will stop on route for tea and crumpets with my nephew in Lichfield, before reaching two exquisite historic gardens I used to visit regularly in my youth - Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall.

Then it's off to York to see the minster and the Shambles and deeper into Yorkshire to see Harlow Carr, one of the Royal Horticultural Society's flagship gardens, and up and up into Northumberland to visit Alnwick Castle garden.

Crossing the border into the land of the men with short arms and deep pockets (I'm kidding! Sassenach, I know) to taste the water of life (uisge beatha) and visit the prestigious Edinburgh botanic gar-den and the "secret garden" of Malleny, noted for its peace and tranquillity.

Whew. I'm exhausted. And I haven't even told you the half of it. It'll be an education. I know it's not the same, but it could be fun to follow this via my blog. See you there.

swhysall@vancouversun.com

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.